Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Too much of a good thing

Yummy fiber rich foods

I know eating a diet high in fiber is supposed to be good for you. However, the age old adage "moderation in all things" -which pretty much applies well to almost everything - should particularly not be ignored concerning fiber, especially in individuals attempting intense exercise. This goes doubly so when said exercise is performed in an environment without nearby 'facilities' - either man's or natures.

I imagine i've been overdoing it for about a couple of weeks. While i've always periodically struggled with 'hollow bowels' following abnormally intense workouts, it's recently become more of a regular battle. Instead of two or three movements a day it's been more like 5 or 6. Ok, I know that's probably more than anyone needs to know (for some reason having young kids makes this subject far less taboo since it ends up being discussed so frequently with them....) but, well, there you have it. Anyway - i wasn't sure the culprit of my regular 'runner's trots' as they're commonly called is a high fiber diet, but, according to research this may be a contributing factor. In thinking back i realize i've been eating an awful lot of veggies, beans, whole wheat pasta, etc. lately and am fairly certain that my average daily intake has well surpassed the recommended 25-30 grams. I'll be keeping track over the next few days to try to get a better estimate and to make sure that i'm eating an amount closer to this range - hopefully i'll notice an improvement.